People Partner (Functions)

Where in the world of OVO will I be working? 

As our Group expands in size and complexity, it has never been more important to create an environment where we attract, retain and inspire top talent to thrive and be their best selves. From the very beginning, OVO has been committed to building a unique, progressive place to work and is now aspiring to create the UK’s best place to work by 2030. 

We are looking for an outstanding People Partner to join our team. You will be a key member of the People PartnerTeam and will report directly to the Director of People Partnering for Functions, Commercial and Technology.

People Partners at OVO play a lead role in driving significant business change - as such you’ll need to be confident in change leadership, organisational design and workforce planning. Your ability to work through and with others across the People Team & other functions is paramount.

This role will work directly with four of our senior executive leadership team (CFO, CPO, VP Legal Counsel and Director of Corporate Affairs) to develop and deploy people strategies that enable our company’s vision and strategy to be realised. You will be a coach and advisor to our leaders and their teams, having a deep understanding of the business and people issues at hand. You’ll play a key role in shaping how we develop progressive people plans for your client groups, and connect this back to the wider People Strategy and play a crucial role in delivering our key People objectives which include:

• Bring to life the OVO way through culture, belonging & wellbeing
• Deliver organisational design and change through an agile and people-led lens
• Develop talent multipliers through successful deployment of our people leadership strategy
• Deliver a workforce planning approach that meets both a tactical and strategic view

What will I be doing? 

You'll support by acting as a strategic people partner to the CFO, CPO, VP Legal Counsel and Director of Corporate Affairs developing plans and approaches that support our business objectives.

Key responsibilities include:

• Having a seat at the leadership table! Providing strategic contribution to the development of the business area strategy, plans and budgets 
• Bringing the People Strategy to life in your areas of the business through working with the People Team and other functions - drawing on their expertise as needed.
• Building a very close working partnership with the People Hub and People Operations who bring generalist knowledge and expertise to help deliver our plans. Creating an improved end-end experience for our people.
• Providing expertise on change leadership, organisational design and workforce planning - you’ll be involved in all three.
• Working with the Centres of Excellence to adapt and implement innovations in the key areas of talent acquisition, development, engagement and reward.
• Developing and maintaining effective succession planning and well planned talent pipelines to meet the current and future needs of the business.
• Supporting leaders with Executive level recruitment as required. 
• Developing effective relationships and communications with key stakeholders, including external partners to build a culture of collaborative working.
• Staying abreast of innovative best practice to inform progressive People thinking.
• Coach and develop our leaders to equip them with the right skills and behaviours to lead their business and teams through growth and change.
• Contribute to the curation of a compelling and progressive employee experience, seeking the spaces where we need to differentiate and live our culture and values. 
• Partner with Reward to together ensure we have a compelling reward proposition factoring in any specific needs for your business area. Lead annual bonus/pay review for your business area.
• Lead discussions and debate with data, formulating insights and recommendations to inform workforce strategy development.
• Roll-out and run any performance approaches in the business.
• Where needed, lead on senior or high risk employee relations issues.

Is this the job for me? 

This role requires the following behaviours:

• A strong leader who influences right up to the top while bringing people on a journey with them.
• Exceptional communicator - confident presenting as well as engaging in fast flowing dialogue on business issues.
• A high level of commercial acumen.
• Resilience. We’re ambitious, we have big goals - so it’s fast moving, dynamic and intense. You’ll need to be pragmatic, able to move at pace and adaptable to rapid change.
• Knows what progressive looks like! Creative and solution-orientated, knowing when to think outside of the box.
• Values solution simplicity over complexity when solving complex problems.
• Challenges ways of working, constantly looking for opportunities to make progress.
• A passion for developing the talents of others.
• Seeks feedback. Knows their own limitations and welcomes external and internal expert input.
• Open minded and willing to be persuaded by sound logic.
• Passionate about how the People function can add value in a forward thinking context, whilst providing the fundamentals of ensuring that the basics are consistently delivered.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

• The role holder will have a proven track record in building effective relationships with senior business leadership teams, leading organisational and cultural change initiatives and developing high impact progressive people strategies. 
• Demonstrable experience working within the context of complex, matrix organisations. Ideally you will have experienced agile before.
• The individual will have highly developed commercial skills, be emotionally intelligent and able to coach and influence senior colleagues. 
• Significant experience of working at pace, in an ambiguous environment to deliver outstanding business results
• Preferably Graduate calibre and Chartered CIPD qualified.
• High curiosity, self starter, proactive mindset. 
• Strong personal impact, you communicate with confidence and credibility across small or larger audiences.
• Proven people generalist experience gained in a fast-paced, progressive environment. Think fast paced and multiply it, OVO is unique here.
• A practical ‘hands on’ approach, with a low ego.
• Strong leadership skills, you are a role model for others.
• Strong commercial acumen and highly developed analytical skills to investigate, design and deliver people strategies and plans.